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List of Warner Bros. cartoons with Blue Ribbon reissues
This is a list of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies which were given Blue Ribbon reissues by Warner Bros. between 1943 and 1969. Background The Blue Ribbon program was initiated in late 1943 as a way to cut costs for producing cartoons during World War II, and later as a way to compete against the growing popularity of television. Depending on which year the cartoon was reissued, the reissues had a given season's opening Color Rings, followed by a title card which showed a blue ribbon (hence the program's title) and a Grand Shorts Award trophy. Description of the titles For the first few seconds of this part, the Merrie Melodies logo was shown on top, with the legends "A WARNER BROS. CARTOON" (or in the earlier years, "Produced by LEON SCHLESINGER") and either "IN TECHNICOLOR" (1943–48), "Color by TECHNICOLOR" (1948–54), "COLOR BY TECHNICOLOR"/"PRINT BY TECHNICOLOR (both 1954-57, the "PRINT.." variation was used if the cartoon was originally made/released in Cinecolor), or "TECHNICOLOR" (1957–64) being shown on the bottom. Afterwards, the title of the cartoon appeared. There was one exception to this (see "Anomalies" below). In the 1943-44 and half of the 1944-45 season, the original closing was kept. Some of these closings are lost due to 1995 "dubbed versions". In the second half of the 1944-45 season all the way to the 1948-49 season, all closings were replaced as all these cartoons were originally produced by Leon Schlesinger. Some of these blue ribbon closings from the 1944-46 season are lost due to 1995 "dubbed versions". The cartoon kept its original closing music, if before "Plenty of Money and You", kept it's closing cue. Starting with 1949-50, cartoons from Eddie Selzer started to be re-released and the MERRIE MELODIES kept their original closing rings while the Looney Tunes were replaced with the BR closing. Starting in 1954-55 season, four Looney Tunes kept their original closings. Starting in 1955-56, Merrie Melodies in Cinecolor had their closings replaced. Beginning with the 1956-57 season, the part where the cartoon's title being showed on the aforementioned background was eliminated. Instead, the original technical credits were shown (though the rings (sometimes the closing if it was select shorts from 1959-64) - but not the original opening and closing music - were still replaced). The original closing was always kept from 1956-1960, despite being MM or LT. "A Feud There Was" was the first cartoon to be reissued in 1943 of September. These cartoons from 1943-45 had the WB Shield come out first (really big), then the words WARNER BROS. and Present come out after on the bottom. Then it would go to the blue ribbon with the trophy with produced by LEON SCHLESINGER, IN TECHNICOLOR then the title and the screen darkens. If the cartoon was reissued and credits Schlesinger's name, the original closing is kept. 1938 closing rings are used on dubbed versions of these cartoons that bear Schlesinger's name. Some of these old reissues have been reissued twice and have replaced these old titles with the latest reissue. "When I Yoo Hoo" is the first cartoon to be reissued and have A WARNER BROS. CARTOON. The screen still darkened and had the really big WB shield on opening but said WARNER BROS. PICTURES INC. at the top and cut original closing titles as well as to hide any mentions of Schlesinger. This cartoon was released in 1936 so at the end the original music still played on the closing rings it had the 1947-48 dubbed version rings. "Merrily We Roll Along" wasn't used in this cartoon yet in the original credits. Cartoons reissued that were originally released from 1937-1940 kept the original closing music, but rings and titles were replaced. Cartoons reissued that were originally released from September 1944-1951 in the Merrie Melodies category kept their original closings as they were produced by Eddie Selzer and reissued during his career. (Example: "Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears" was released in 1944 of September (the first cartoon produced by Selzer). It started with the 1951-52 opening rings (evident one red ring a red background and blue rings) but closed with the original 1944 rings (evident from the red background blue rings) as the closing said Produced By Warner Bros. Cartoons at the end.) Only the 1955-56 season (mostly the LT or cinecolor releases, the MM kept their closing rings) replaced original closings. Then the 1959-64 season as well (certain ones). Cartoons in the Looney Tunes category originally released in 1942-1948 had all credits cut. There were four exceptions to the rule (dubbed versions had original closings replaced). * "The Goofy Gophers" * "What's Brewin', Bruin?" * "Hop, Look and Listen" (original titles restored) (TV shows original titles) * "Crowing Pains" (dubbed version has closing replaced with 1995 Turner rings) (original titles restored TV airs blue ribbon) From the 1949-1950 through 1957-1958 release seasons, the Blue Ribbon reissues were assigned new production numbers which appeared below the WB shield on the main title. During the time of the cartoon studio's shutdown, the 1953-1954 (#'s 1351-1363) and 1954-1955 (#'s 1364-1377) reissue production number groups ran back to back. Only color cartoons were eligible to be reissued in this program. Cinecolor cartoons counted in 1947-49 cartoons were produced in Cinecolor to save money. Cartoons in Cinecolor had different rings than Technicolor. Cinecolor rings in the 1947-48 season were red background with yellow-greenish rings.(Technicolor did not use these rings until after "You Were Never Duckier". "Hot Cross Bunny" had original rings replaced.) Cartoons in 1948-49 season had blue background with yellow-orangish rings. (This is the same as the Technicolor rings.) ALL MERRIE MELODIES from 1936-41, reissued in Leon Schlesinger's career, ALL MERRIE MELODIES from 1944-51, reissued from 1949-59, except Cinecolor (with the exception of "Dough for the Do-Do"), and ALL LOONEY TUNES from 1948-1951, reissued in the 1956-59 season, kept their original closings. Some cartoons reissued in the 1959-64 season kept their original closings like "French Rarebit" and "Putty Tat Trouble". But every cartoon reissued from late-1956 to late-1959 had their original closings kept, regardless of the series. Anomalies The 1940 cartoon "The Mighty Hunters" was the one exception to the original rule. The 1952-53 opening rings and "Blue Ribbon" title card were shown as normal, but then proceeded to the original technical credits. This was the only cartoon which ended up in the a.a.p. package (released prior to August 1, 1948) to be reissued under the 1956-57 (and later) rules. On the other hand, only five cartoons which WB would keep for their own TV packages (released August 1, 1948 or later) were reissued under the original 1943 rules (the technical credits are removed). These were: "Daffy Dilly", "The Foghorn Leghorn", "Kit for Cat", "Scaredy Cat", and "You Were Never Duckier". The latter cartoon was reissued in the 1954-55 season, while the others were reissued during the 1955-56 season. "The Foghorn Leghorn", "Scaredy Cat", and "You Were Never Duckier" kept their original closing titles for the reissue. "Kit for Cat" was the only Looney Tunes while the rest are Merrie Melodies. Also, "Daffy Dilly" is the only one of those five to not have its original technical credits restored. (The original titles have been found but are under possession by a museum in Maryland.) The other four have their original credits restored ("Kit for Cat" has only the opening restored but faded with the Blue Ribbon closing rings, for unknown reasons). "Kit for Cat" is the only Friz Freleng cartoon in this category and "The Foghorn Leghorn" is the only Robert McKimson in this category. The other three are directed by Chuck Jones. Recreated titles For unknown reasons, two pre-1948 shorts (both 1995 "dubbed" versions) contain recreated titles under the supervision of media mogul Ted Turner.goldenagecartoons.com These shorts are: * "The Night Watchman" * "Daffy Duck & Egghead" Reissued cartoons Cartoons with original technical credits restored on DVD Many of the above cartoons have been restored for DVD release as part of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection series. However, only a handful of cartoons that were reissued prior to the 1956-57 season have their original technical credits restored. These are: * "I Love to Singa" (original opening and credits) * "Speaking of the Weather" * "Little Red Walking Hood" * "Daffy Duck and Egghead" * "The Night Watchman" * "The Bear's Tale" (original opening and credits) * "The Trial of Mr. Wolf" * "Book Revue" * "Holiday for Shoestrings" (original opening titles restored) * "Baby Bottleneck" * "Crowing Pains" (original opening and credits) * "Back Alley Oproar" (original opening titles restored) * "You Were Never Duckier" (original opening titles restored) * "The Foghorn Leghorn" (original opening and credits) * "Kit for Cat" (original opening and credits, blue ribbon ending) * "Scaredy Cat" (original opening and credits) In addition, "A Wild Hare" (reissued as "The Wild Hare"), and "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt" were given a similar treatment for the DVD set Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection. There are three cartoons released after 1948 which have had their original title sequences restored on DVD. "Dog Gone South", "A Ham in a Role" and "It's Hummer Time" are restored on Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 6 and "From A to Z-z-z-z" has been restored on Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection. "Canary Row", "Home Tweet Home", and "Canned Feud" restore the original opening on the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection DVD sets. "A Ham in a Role" and "From A to Z-z-z-z" restore the original opening and ending. "Dog Gone South" and "It's Hummer Time" restore the original openings. "Hop, Look, and Listen" had its original opening, like "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt" restored for its 1995 dubbed version. In 2013, opening and ending were reunited when the former came out on Looney Tunes Super Stars' Sylvester & Hippety Hopper: Marsupial Mayhem. The latter had its ending restored with opening on the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection DVD. This version was double-dipped on the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3 set. On Looney Tunes Super Stars DVD releases: "Bell Hoppy" and "Fool Coverage" restore the original opening and ending. "The Pest that Came to Dinner", "Pop I'm Pop" and "Dog Collared" restore the original opening. Prints of the original version of "Bone Sweet Bone" with their original technical credits intact do exist, but it is unknown if they have acquired them for future releases. See also *Looney Tunes *Merrie Melodies *Censored Eleven *Looney Tunes Golden Collection Further reading *''Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons'', by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald (1989), Henry Holt, ISBN 0-8050-0894-2 *''Chuck Amuck : The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist'' by Chuck Jones, published by Farrar Straus & Giroux, ISBN 0-374-12348-9 *''That's Not All, Folks!'' by Mel Blanc, Philip Bashe. Warner Books, ISBN 0-446-39089-5 (Softcover) ISBN 0-446-51244-3 (Hardcover) *''Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons'', Leonard Maltin, Revised Edition 1987, Plume ISBN 0-452-25993-2 (Softcover) ISBN 0-613-64753-X (Hardcover) Sources *Warner Bros. Animation Production Numbers, 1946 to Present (A Partial List) *Field Guide to Titles and Credits *Michael J. Hayde's Better Living Through Television: Blue Ribbon Blues *The Big Cartoon DataBase entry for Merrie Melodies Cartoons and for Looney Tunes Cartoons *"Warner Brothers Cartoon Companion", a wealth of trivia about the Warner cartoons *Official site References Category:Lists Category:Looney Tunes Category:Blue Ribbon reissues